The Women of Coyo: Tradition and Innovation in Andean Prehistory, San Pedro De Atacama, North Chile (A.D

University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings Textile Society of America 1992 The Women Of Coyo: Tradition And Innovation In Andean Prehistory, San Pedro De Atacama, North Chile (A.D. 500-900) Amy Oakland Rodman California State University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/tsaconf Part of the Art and Design Commons Rodman, Amy Oakland, "The Women Of Coyo: Tradition And Innovation In Andean Prehistory, San Pedro De Atacama, North Chile (A.D. 500-900)" (1992). Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings. 582. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/tsaconf/582 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Textile Society of America at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Textile Society of America Proceedings 1992 THE WOMEN OF COYO: TRADITION AND INNOVATION IN ANDEAN PREHISTORY, SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA, NORTH CHILE (A.D. 500-900) AMY OAKLAND RODMAN Department of Art, California State University, Hayivard, CA. 94542 Beginning in the second century and continuing until the Spanish arrived in the sixteenth century, the inhabitants of the large cluster of oases known as San Pedro in the Atacama desert of northern Chile buried their dead in the desert, in areas adjacent to shaded habitation sites and irrigated agricultural fields (Figure 1). The scarce oasis lands have been reused over the millennium and little former architectural evidence survives, however the cemeteries and the people themselves have been preserved. The arid Atacama desert has allowed the uncommon preservation of a vast quantity of prehistoric textiles and other usually perishable materials. Complete funeral bundles dating between the sixth and the tenth centuries have been uncovered in Coyo Oriental, the ancient eastern cemetery of the Coyo oasis. Not all bundles have been preserved equally, but remaining evidence suggests that a bundle included multiple layers of tunics, mantles and headdresses tied with strong camelid fiber ropes often surrounded by tools, weapons, food remains, bags, baskets and ceramics. Most reconstructions of Atacama prehistory discuss the ceramic component and identify a single indigenous population residing in the oases of San Pedro (Berenguer et. al. 1986,1988; Le Paige 1964; Tarrago 1968). But ceramics are not always present as burial offerings and, within the Southern Andes, ceramics could hardly be expected to provide the same intimate definition of personal identity as an analysis of the textiles could provide. Modern weaving in indigenous communities of the Southern Andes is known for its brilliant and intricate color and patterning which is ethnic-specific. In this area textiles are one of the most important aspects of material culture maintained by indigenous populations to define ethnic identity (Medlin 1991; Seibold 1992; Zorn 1990). There is nothing in the archaeological record to suggest that prehistoric Andean weaving was different. The multiple clothing styles represented in the ancient Coyo Oriental cemetery describe not a single homogenous culture, but multiethnic burials and possible multiethnic communities within the original Coyo oasis. Style and Place At least two separate groups of men, women, and children were buried in the Coyo Oriental cemetery and undoubtedly originally shared the Coyo oasis during the sixth to the tenth centuries A.D. One group was probably local deriving from an earlier San Pedro tradition, and the other highland, connected with the Bolivian altiplano and the cultural, political and economic center of Tiwanaku (A.D. 300- 1000) whose preeminence in the southern Andes parallels the Coyo occupation. 62 Textile Society of America Proceedings 1992 Tiwanaku artifacts in San Pedro de Atacama have originally been described as exchanged items connected within a circulating llama caravan traffic (Browman 1980; Nunez and Dillehay 1979). But foreign textiles and artifacts might alternatively be considered as imported objects directly associated with original foreign populations. The present analysis supports just this hypothesis. Elaborate Tiwanaku tapestry tunics and mantles uncovered in Coyo, which I described in an earlier paper (Oakland 1986), were all connected with a specific set of warp-faced garments. These textiles are quite distinct from the local garment style evident not only in Coyo, but also in a variety of additional oases locations suggesting a much wider spread local style. The concept of style has recently generated a wealth of anthropological discussion (Conkey and Hastorf 1990; Sackett 1982,1990 among others). My own addition to the literature (Oakland Rodman n.d.) based in textile analysis from the Coyo Oriental cemetery, suggests that specifically designed and executed textile style was maintained by prehistoric ethnic groups as the principal emblem of group identification, similar to its use in contemporary indigenous Andean communities. For the purposes of the present paper in attempting to specify and visualize the past, the clothing and associated artifacts recovered with the highland "woman with the red mantle" (a woman buried with a red Tiwanaku tapestry mantle) will be used as a contrast to the weaving styles of "two local sisters" (a hypothetical familial- tie: two women sharing the same tomb with closely related textiles). The separate styles were used in Coyo synchronically as ceramic associations and radiocarbon determinations suggest (600-900 A.D.). Groups were originally identified through a variety of other criteria, especially the male headdress form which is shared by men within groups but is distinctive between groups. The headdress center is particularly diagnostic: locals loop spiral designs and highlanders knot checked or diamond designs. Status differentiation is difficult to determine between groups. The highland woman's burial was equipped with more textiles than the local women, but her female companion buried in the same tomb had very few textile associations. Within the larger collection, the non-textile artifacts do perhaps suggest a greater status afforded the highland group in Coyo. But the textiles illuminate the distinctiveness and technical expertise apparent in both groups. An examination of daily life in Coyo must consider components which have survived in death. Textile preservation in Andean prehistoric habitation sites is unfortunately rare. The types of information which doth fragments scattered throughout a site and refuse area might contain contrasts greatly with that possible within an enclosed cemetery context. Because the mortuary textiles often show evidence of use, wear and repair, it is almost certain that many of the garments represent the daily attire of the local Coyo inhabitants. Woman, Society and Prehistory This paper's focus on women is a discussion pertinent to current anthropological (Gero and Conkey 1991) and art historical (Miller 1988) literature Textile Society of America Proceedings 1992 63 where different voices are creating a broader image of prehistory. Contemporary ethnographic studies describe Andean society as a very fluid system where complementary gender-specific roles are understood as fixed but are, in fact, not always maintained. In the southern highland village of Songo, Catherine Allen (1988:73) describes the usual recognized situation: In the complementary division of labor...Women spin thread from wool, weave on the ground on a horizontal loom, and sew the family's clothes. Men knit their own caps, make fine woolen ropes for harnessing the animals, weave on an upright loom with foot pedals, and do some simple carpentry. But after discussing the accepted version of complementary roles Allen notes: "Men do almost as much spinning as women, and I have seen men weave fine ponchos, belts, and coca bags with complex designs on horizontal looms" (Allen 1988:78). Songo inhabitants maintain a concept that a division of labor exists: Don Luis told Catherine Allen (1988:78) that "in February when there's no agricultural work I'll be a woman and go around knitting". But concept and practice are constantly blurred as Allen (1988:78) remembers: When I learned how to spin two years before, Basilia had exclaimed in delight, "Well, you're finally a woman!" Her husband, son, and compadre sat beside her, all of them spinning. Social distinctions of gender traits in the Andes might be more dearly understood, not as only his or hers, but as more hers or his depending on the situation. Lynn Meisch (1991:11) recognized a similar theme in Jane Collins* (1988:140) description of the Peruvian community of Moho: Although the Aymara stress the complementarity of male and female roles in their art, religion, and philosophy, the actual division of labor by sex is quite flexible. One commonly hears statements such as "men plow and women plant" and "women are better weavers than men," but there are few tasks that are not performed by individuals of either sex at one time or another. Andean gender complementarity then provides the situation where members of each sex hold a knowledge of the other's roles (and may in fact actually perform them) and a definite understanding of excellence: a good weaver is appreciated by everyone. Women are understood as the principal weavers using traditional looms in most indigenous communities in the

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